Rear shock linkage maintenance

[Auburn]

Ouch!

 

[SkooterG]

Ouch! Love the comment about the battery

but really, what caused this? Inquiring minds don't want to repeat your mistake

What would you do different in your suspension methods?

Good freaking question. I am still trying to figure this out. When I initially lifted it, it would come up tilting to the right. Couldn't figure out why. Bike's weight distribution? One of the soft ties was stretching more than another? But I was jiggling it, and it still seemed fairly stable. Here's a photo of what it looked like tilted to the right but somewhat stable:

Even though I was testing it and it was somewhat stable, I remember thinking that two bike tie-down straps to secure it after lifting it with the hoist would be desirable. I don't have any. Yet! I think that would have helped. The other thing, a wheel chock for the front wheel. I bungied the front brake lever 'on' so the bike wouldn't move back and forth, but I think what initiated the roll over was the handlebars turning to the left. Not sure about that, just a theory.

After I decided it was good enough, I was still not feeling real good about getting underneath it, so I was working on the C-stand bolts from the left side. I noticed the bike tilted to the right a bit more. I stood up and gave it a jiggle, and that is when the feces hit the rotating oscillator. I grabbed the bike and slowed the roll over. It landed fairly gently. In hindsight I know I could have stopped it but at the time I didn't want to get too close in case everything came crashing down which I thought was a VERY real possibility as the situation was fluid.

Since it was down and now stable (after some testing) I removed the C-stand, relay arm, and re-installed everything. I was worried about needing a helper to try and lift it, but it only took about 30-40 lbs of lifting force when lifting by the right handlebar to right it. It was just *that* close to the balance point. Post incident evaluation has be drawing a line from the rear lifting point to the front tire contact point and not liking how much of the mass is above that imaginary line.

I was afraid something like that would happen and that's why I made my set-up
I got the drift from some folks thought it was a waste time, oh well.

Bummer that happened, next time use two lifting deals one to each side of the sub frame. Won't be near as likely to tip also take the tank off as there is a lot of weight there that is higher than the battery.

Yeah, I was one of those folks. Tank is nearly empty so I don't think it made much of a difference. What I think DID make a big difference is not having the swingarm, final drive, and rear wheel mounted. All that weight would have added to stability.

+1, single point for the hook is unstable, 2 support point is better. sorry this happened to you, hope there is not much damage to your bike.

While I get Panman's set-up is 'better', the hook is still 'two' lifting points. As soon as it started rotating, all weight of the rear is being supported by one strap on the opposite side of rotation as you can clearly see in the photo. After drawing my imaginary 'loading line' as mentioned above, I think Panman's set up is better in that it is located more forward putting more mass *below* the axis of rotation. As I mentioned above, after lifting with this set-up, securing with two tie-down straps would have helped greatly. Along with a front wheel chock.

Fortunately, since it was a relatively gentle let-down, only scratches to the right mirror which already had some, a small rub mark to the front corner of the upper fairing, and the mirror mounting was bent. I easily bent the mirror mount back to normal position just as I have done every other time I have dropped an FJR. BTW, Gen II mirrors make this an easy evolution. Not so much with Gen I mirrors as their 'bending' knuckle doesn't allow this.

 

[SkooterG]

ShooterG finds a new way to lay an FJR down.........will wonders never cease? I use a Class A stepladder to suspend the back of a bike, I'm surprised that no one else does because that is pretty stable way to do it.

Where's the 'This post is worthless without pictures' smiley? As you can see from my photo, a picture is worth a thousand words...... Almost all of them cuss words!

 

[MCRIDER007]

ShooterG finds a new way to lay an FJR down.........will wonders never cease? I use a Class A stepladder to suspend the back of a bike, I'm surprised that no one else does because that is pretty stable way to do it.

Where's the 'This post is worthless without pictures' smiley? As you can see from my photo, a picture is worth a thousand words...... Almost all of them cuss words!

I'm surprised you took the time to take pictures.....those home made pipe stand setups have always looked fragile to me....glad to hear that the damage was minimal.

 

[karstenp]

Wow Skooter......simply amazing. Your solution for access to the center stand bolts is by far the best I have seen to date.

Good to hear that there was minimal damage and more importantly that you were not under the bike when it went over....

 

[SkooterG]

Wow Skooter......simply amazing. Your solution for access to the center stand bolts is by far the best I have seen to date.

At first I wasn't going to post any of this. As much as it may seem contrary, I don't enjoy sharing my ****-ups with the entire world.

But......... The entertainment value of the photo of the FJR dangling is just too great.

And, more importantly, if I can save just one person from doing the same thing..............

 

[JamesK]

Scooter sorry about the mishap and glad that the damage was minimal, since the first impression when seeing that pic sends a real ice cold child down any FJR owner's back.

Thanks also for deciding to post the pics, I am sure they will help to save some of the other people from doing something similar.

After initially hoisting up my FJR as a trial to see how stable it would feel, I just had a feeling that securing the front would be a really good backup but then figured the extra dicking around would be an over kill, thanks to your pics I will now actually use the front stand which I purchased specifically for this job.

 

[karstenp]

But......... The entertainment value of the photo of the FJR dangling is just too great.

And, more importantly, if I can save just one person from doing the same thing..............

The pictures are priceless and we appreciate you posting. The first thing I did after seeing your pictures was run to the garage and make sure my bike was still upright! I also have the swingarm off so it could have just as easily been me.....

It was about this time last year when I was working on the FJR and tipped it over.......directly onto my ST1100 which then tipped over.... I stood there swearing over and over by what I saw.... my ST1100 under my FJR....mirror broken off the FJR and the handle of the FJR burried deep into the ST plastic.... I know exactly how you felt when it started to go over....

We do appreciate you posting to prevent it from happening to others...... I also think you were incredibly cool taking the time to shoot pictures.

 

[Fred W]

And, more importantly, if I can save just one person from doing the same thing..............

Well I, for one, appreciate your giving and caring attitude. I thank you, from the very bottom of my (often callous) heart. Thanks for taking one for the FJR team, Greg.

In that light, all of your beers are on me all week at NERDS, man!

 

[SkooterG]

The first thing I did after seeing your pictures was run to the garage and make sure my bike was still upright! I also have the swingarm off so it could have just as easily been me.....

How do you have yours supported? How stable does it seem?

 

[FJReady]

Skooty, Major Bummer. Glad you didn’t suffer too much damage. I’ve done things like this before - always makes me feel like a dumb-***. I’ve been thinking about the reason(s) this could happen and think it has to do with the location of the support points of the bike relative to the center of gravity of the bike. If the support points are below the bike’s center of gravity (CG) the load will be unstable.

Take a look at the image that Ionbeam posted for me. (coming along soon I hope, I’m having trouble with photos right now) The blue arrows show where the bike is supported. The red dot is my estimate of where the CG of the bike is. If the red dot is above the yellow line that connects the two support points then the load could be unstable.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/FJREADY/SkootersFBD_zps0dcf2238.jpg

Now you do get some stability from the width of the two attachment points of the red strap you have going from the hook to the subframe. But still it’s narrow. Once the bike starts to lean to the side a little bit for some reason, the weight above the yellow line will want to be below the yellow line.

I haven’t done this exact setup so I don’t know for sure, but just trying to offer an explanation so others may learn. I like Panman's setup- the lift points are closer to the center of the bike.

Do I gather from Fred's post that we'll see you in VT this August?? Hope so..

 

[JamesK]

I'm also wondering whether using the pipestand vs. a fixed mounting point like say a hook in the concrete ceiling like my setup would have contributed any? From the pics it looks like the pipestand moved once the bike started going off balance, which I'm guessing would have lead the the chain-reaction of events?

 

[ionbeam]

Skooty, Major Bummer. Glad you didn’t suffer too much damage... Take a look at the image that Ionbeam posted for me...The blue arrows show where the bike is supported. The red dot is my estimate of where the CG of the bike is. If the red dot is above the yellow line that connects the two support points then the load could be unstable...
Now you do get some stability from the width of the two attachment points of the red strap you have going from the hook to the subframe. But still it’s narrow. Once the bike starts to lean to the side a little bit for some reason, the weight above the yellow line will want to be below the yellow line.

I haven’t done this exact setup so I don’t know for sure, but just trying to offer an explanation so others may learn. I like Panman's setup- the lift points are closer to the center of the bike...

Photo assist per FJReady's request (after the meal he and his wife put on for ALL of us NERDs how could I refuse?).

 

[smitty141]

How many weeks is it going to take you to do a 4 hour job Skooter...

Dropping that POS really sucks...

Smitty

 

[Fred W]

Whoa! Great post Smitty!

 

[PhilJet09]

Aw man, that really sucks! sorry this happened and thanks for sharing so we all can learn.

You want your supporting points to be as far apart as possible, not only laterally, but longitudinally. This is how you get stability. Using your front wheel (which in and of itself is unstable due to its willingness to turn) as a supporting point, you then want the rear supports to be as far back and spread apart as far as possible. When I did mine, I used solid wood supports that I made to fit under my rear sliders. That got me pretty far aft and spread as far apart as you'll get on the FJR. The down side is that the mufflers have to be off...and of course you have to have rear sliders.

 

[phroenips]

I'm guessing it happened because the front wheel turned. Be sure to chock the front end next time.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Too bad about the oops skoot, saw your pic in the other thread. Glad it wasn't the '09...THAT would have been bad.

Next cold one is on me!

--G

 

[odot]

Ummmmmm...............................naw.

 

[RadioHowie]

Ummmmmm...............................naw.

Yeah...gets tiresome picking on the ********, doesn't it? Too easy! :lol: